Knesset Approves Bill for Conducting Elections During Corona Pandemic

By a vote of 68-0, the Knesset plenum on Tuesday passed a bill that specifies the instructions for conducting the elections for the 24th Knesset during the coronavirus pandemic.

The bill, which was passed as a temporary order, details the voting procedures for coronavirus patients and people in quarantine, and also includes instructions in the event that elections will be held while the country is under lockdown.

Among other things, the bill stipulates that, for the first time, ballot boxes will be placed in retirement homes and assisted living complexes with more than 30 tenants. The minimum age of a member of a polling station committee will rise to 17, and the minimum age of a polling station secretary will be 21.

Under the legislation, if a faction took out loans in either one of the past three Knessets, the loans will not be deducted from the advance the faction is entitled to for funding its election campaign. Factions will have to return the loans within four years and four months from the day the 24th Knesset is established.